US state of New Jersey mulls slavery apology Published: Wednesday January 2, 2008
The US state of New Jersey is to weigh apologizing for its role in the slave trade, under a bill to be considered by lawmakers Thursday, more than 200 years after the state abolished the practice.
If approved, the bill would make New Jersey the fifth US state to issue such an apology but the first among the northern anti-slavery states that formed the Union side in the US civil war from 1861-1865.
The text of the bill "expresses New Jersey's profound regret for its role in slavery and apologizes for wrongs inflicted by slavery and its after effects in the United States."
The "slave states" of Alabama, Maryland, North Carolina and Virginia apologized last year for their slave-trading past. Maryland, however, fought on the northern side in the war.
The "slave states" of Alabama, Maryland, North Carolina and Virginia apologized last year for their slave-trading past. Maryland, however, fought on the northern side in the war.
New Jersey became the last northern state to abolish slavery in 1804, but the gradual law meant that the practice was not completely eradicated there until 1846, while slavery was not officially abolished nationwide until 1865.
Former president Bill Clinton expressed his "regrets" over the US role in the slave trade and President George W. Bush described it as "one of the greatest crimes of history," but there has never been an official US government apology.
Former president Bill Clinton expressed his "regrets" over the US role in the slave trade and President George W. Bush described it as "one of the greatest crimes of history," but there has never been an official US government apology.
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